


Shaking

by Timeskipped



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hope's Peak Academy (Dangan Ronpa), Developing Relationship, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, feat. kokichi having emotional issues, not quite romance but the hints are there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-11-01 22:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20524958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timeskipped/pseuds/Timeskipped
Summary: “As long as I can sleep in your bed, I don’t care,” Kokichi says cheerfully, voicing his true goal. His true goal is selfish and awful, but at least Kaito has a chance of allowing it.Kokichi’s hands have started shaking again, pale and weak in the darkness of Kaito’s dorm room. He doesn’t want to be alone. Kokichi has always been solitary in his class, but now he needs someone.Or; Kokichi tries and fails to run from his emotions.





	Shaking

_My door is always open,_ Kaito had told Kokichi before.

At the time, it was annoying. At the time, it was an invitation to be open about _anything, anything at all._ Today, it’s something between a curse and a blessing, a grey area that Kokichi is, somehow, glad to have.

Kokichi stands in front of Kaito’s door and swallows his nerves, the needless anxiety consuming him. His hands are shaking slightly, he notices absently as he goes to ring the doorbell.

He forces them to stop as he rings the bell again and again and again. Making himself as annoying, as detestable as possible is second nature at this point; if Kaito turns him away because of that, then Kokichi will tell himself that he doesn’t care until it becomes the truth.

The door swings open.

“Kokichi? What are you doing here? It’s…” Kaito stops squinting and glaring at him in favor of looking back into the room, presumably for a clock of some sort.

“About three in the morning!” Kokichi chirps back with a smile.

Kaito looks back at him incredulously. “Why are you here? You were missing in class for the last few days. I was worried! Is anything wrong?”

“Hmmmm…” Kokichi pretends to think deeply. “Nope! Unless you count spiders as _wrong,_ but I personally wouldn’t!”

“Spiders?! What do spiders have to do with anything?”

Kokichi pushes past Kaito, who allows him to enter his room. Kokichi grits his teeth into a smile. “Well, imagine my surprise when I’m gone on a trip to oversee some important governmental affairs, only to come back to spiders crawling all over my bed. Somebody must have found out I was coming back and pulled a prank on me! It’s soooo t-tragic, Kaito!” Kokichi allows his eyes to water.

“What the hell,” Kaito doesn’t seem convinced. “So you came to bother me? Besides, that’s obviously a lie.” He pushes his fists together. “If you’re going to appear out of the blue, at least don’t wake people up!”

“Supreme leaders need our beauty rest, too, you monster!” Kokichi pouts. “Besides, _you’re_ the one who told me I could come around _whenever,_ and the middle of the night _is_ whenever!”

Kaito squints at Kokichi again, finally closing the door and moving from his position at the door.

“That was for coming to talk to me about stuff, dumbass! And since you’re obviously lying, this doesn’t count!”

“As long as I can sleep in your bed, I don’t care,” Kokichi says cheerfully, voicing his true goal. His true goal is selfish and awful, but at least Kaito has a chance of allowing it.

Kokichi’s hands have started shaking again, pale and weak in the darkness of Kaito’s dorm room. He doesn’t want to be alone. Kokichi has always been solitary in his class, but now he needs someone.

Kaito moves to run a hand through his hair, and Kokichi notices belatedly that it’s out of its normal gelled spikes. Kokichi swallows down the thought that it looks good. He already has enough on his plate without those kind of thoughts.

“You’re not gonna give this up easily, are you?” Kaito looks uneasy, and he sits down on his bed with a groan. “God, fine, as long as you let _me_ sleep, too! And we’re definitely talking about this tomorrow!”

Kokichi grins, even as his thoughts respond to Kaito with the harsh thought of _not fucking likely._

“Great, thanks Kaito! _Wow,_ who knew I just had to ask! You’re practically bowing to me as your supreme leader already!” Kokichi skips past Kaito, lying down nearer to the wall, shuffling until he’s beneath Kaito’s blankets.

“Shut up! Why are you being like this at three in the morning, anyways?”

Kokichi doesn’t reply, turning away from Kaito.

He hears Kaito sigh heavily behind him. The covers shift as Kaito gets into bed as well, and his weight makes the bed dip. Kokichi quietly allows himself to find it comforting, allows it to distract him from all the things that he’s been consumed by these past few weeks- days- hours.

He feels vulnerable, needing someone else. Kokichi is used to not having to care about that.

Kaito is going to make him talk in the morning, but Kokichi feels as if his lips are sealed. Bottling up his emotions isn’t good, Kaito would tell him, but Kokichi can’t let anyone see into the metaphorical hole that’s opened up in his chest.

Kokichi turns over. He feels restless but knows he can’t leave Kaito’s room. It’s part of the reason that he chose the side of the bed near the wall. He can’t allow himself to get up, not even to see if DICE is okay.

“Kokichi?” Kaito’s voice is softer than Kokichi is used to.

Kokichi doesn’t raise his head, doesn’t meet Kaito’s eyes. He struggles to get his breathing back into control.

Kaito moves, but Kokichi still doesn’t look. He jolts as Kaito’s hand touches his shoulder.

It’s warm through Kokichi’s hoodie. He shivers, hands tightening slightly on Kaito’s blankets. He forces himself to focus on things other than the wetness of his face or how Kaito is trying so hard to help him despite the fact that he has only made Kaito’s life worse.

Kokichi doesn’t have the energy to move away when Kaito puts his hand on Kokichi’s cheek. He hears Kaito’s intake of breath as he realizes that Kokichi’s been crying.

“Kokichi, something happened, right? Are you okay?” Kaito tries to forces Kokichi’s head upwards, but he stubbornly keeps it in place.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kokichi says, and his voice sounds perfectly natural. It’s all a lie, of course, but then again, that’s all that Kokichi is good at. “I’m perfectly fine. It’s you who you should be worried about. Manhandling a supreme leader could get you into a lot of trouble, you know…” He feels a wave of tiredness wash over him.

“You don’t seem hurt,” Kaito mumbles to himself. “What happened… what…”

“You should be more careful, Kaito,” Kokichi turns over again, burying himself in Kaito’s blankets.

He drifts off before he can hear Kaito’s reply.

* * *

When Kokichi wakes up again, he shoots up out of Kaito’s bed.

Light is streaming in through the windows, and the blankets over Kaito rise and fall with his steady breathing. It must be nearing ten or eleven, later than Kokichi is comfortable with, which means that Kaito is missing class.

They’re lucky that Hope’s Peak allows them to miss it without repercussions. Or, rather, Kokichi is lucky for that fact, or else he wouldn’t be able to skip for a few days in order to go to the hospital.

_Fuck._

Kokichi’s eyes feel heavy, like he hasn’t slept for long enough. It’s probably true, with how little sleep he’s been getting the past few days. The whole reason DICE forced him back to the dorms was because of his sleeplessness.

Despite that, he forces himself onto his knees, immediately missing the warmth of the blankets, heated by a combination of his and Kaito’s body heat. His heart flutters at the thought.

_That’s not important,_ he thinks, dismissing the urge to lie back down and think of more happy things. He has a mission. A mission to get over Kaito’s sleeping body, escape the room, get to his own room to change, and get back to the hospital.

All before Kaito wakes up to get Kokichi to talk, of course. He’d been careless, last night, too honest and wound up from lack of sleep. He’s feeling similarly now, too, so getting caught could spell out something _very bad_ for Kokichi, not just in lost time, but also in lost pride.

Attempting to leap over Kaito wouldn’t work, so he has to step over him. Somehow.

No big deal.

He has one foot on the ground and the other still on the bed when Kaito stirs, and Kokichi freezes, glancing back to Kaito’s face.

His eyes are blinking open, and his hair is ruffled into a bedhead that Kokichi never would have expected to see Kaito having. He sits up slowly, and Kokichi rushes to keep moving, jumping off the bed.

Kaito realizes what he’s doing a half second before he moves, and Kaito throws the blankets off and runs forwards just as Kokichi does. Kaito’s hands close around Kokichi’s wrist, effectively stopping him from running.

Kokichi hooks his fingers on Kaito’s hands and tries to pull them off anyways, despite the futility of the situation. Damn large space idiot hands.

“Hey, hey! Stop it!” Kaito pulls on Kokichi, trying to pull him back to the bed. “Kokichi, I said we were gonna talk, so you’re not fucking running from this!”

Kokichi grits his teeth and digs in his heels. “I have places to be, people to see! You can’t stop me from my-” Kokichi stumbles before regaining his balance again. Kaito’s grip on his wrists is getting tighter the more Kokichi struggles. “Ugh, stop trying to keep my from my duties! You would never understand, anyways!”

“Try me!” Kaito yells, already frustrated. “Why are you being so _difficult_? You keep going on about your _‘duties’_ like I even believe that you control the government, or- or whatever lies you-!”

Kokichi kicks at Kaito’s ankles. “You’re disproving your own point, idiot! You don’t believe me,” Kokichi peels some of Kaito’s fingers off his wrist, only for Kaito to drag him a few centimeters closer to the bed, “so obviously you wouldn’t understand!”

“I could try to understand, though!” Kaito’s teeth are gritted too. “What if I just try to listen, okay? Then I’d let you go!”

Kokichi hisses as Kaito’s grip turns practically crushing. “Ha!” he forces out a harsh laugh. “As if someone like you could relate to what I’m going through-!”

When he looks up with wide eyes and an even wider smile, a practiced face fit for a villain, Kaito loosens his grip. Kokichi falls backwards as he’s released, given no warning as he rips his arm from Kaito’s grasp with too much force. He crashes to the ground with a muffled sound of pain.

A clattering sounds as his phone falls out of his hoodie's pocket and slides across the floor.

“Shit! Are you okay?” Kaito stands above Kokichi, concern growing on his face with the way his eyebrows furrow. Kokichi sits up, propped on his elbows. He rubs his wrist, avoiding Kaito’s eyes. He still hears the hissing breath that Kaito takes when he sees Kokichi’s wrist, which is slightly red from being gripped so tightly.

Kokichi leaps up before Kaito can comment on it. “Alright! If that’s quite enough,” Kokichi looks up at Kaito, putting on a mask of annoyance.

Even so, he’s not sure how he actually feels. It feels… numb. He’s felt like this for a good chunk of the past few days and he _hates_ it.

Kaito pulls Kokichi back when he turns to leave. “C’mon, c’mon, I didn’t mean to! At least… At least tell me why you have to leave, or where you’re going. You’re a little shit, but I can still be concerned-”

“Concerned?” Kokichi feels his face go blank. “Why would you be concerned for a liar like me?”

“Cause you disappeared for what, three days? Then you show up at my door, and, and you were crying! Last night! We both know it, don’t try and deny it!”

“If you want to know so much,” Kokichi says, leaning down to pick up his phone, “there are better ways than to ask someone you _know_ won’t tell the truth.”

“Tch,” Kaito moves to stand in front of Kokichi again. “Yeah? So? I’m just trying to respect your privacy! It’s the better thing to do!”

Kokichi rolls his eyes dramatically. “Oh great, the hero Kaito Momota is just going to be the _better person_! Even if that means harassing a _poor_ evil supreme leader, putting his life on the line! How noble! How _honorable_!”

Kokichi turns on his phone, and quickly opens the text messages.

_Three new messages,_ it reads, and Kokichi feels his heart jump, anxiety swelling up inside his chest, all consuming as that message repeats over and over in his mind. He opens the texts at record speed, not listening to whatever Kaito decides to angrily say in response.

6:28 AM: _we’re back at the hospital. nothing new_

6:43 AM: _don’t come back until you’ve rested_

6:44 AM: _if you try coming back before noon we’re going to stop you_

Kokichi swears in his head. DICE is too good for him, but they won’t let him leave Hope’s Peak even if one of their lives in on the line. He’s not angry at them, not at all, but the fact that he can’t know exactly what’s happening is making him lose him mind.

He realizes that he’s been staring at the messages for a couple minutes only when Kaito’s hand meets his head. Kokichi looks up to find Kaito looking back at him, concern prevalent in his gaze.

“Did you hear what I said?” Kaito asks.

Kokichi scowls. He can’t leave, so he’s going to have to deal with Kaito’s prying for a while now.

“Why should I care what you said?” he shoots back, stuffing his phone back into the pocket of his hoodie.

Kaito pauses for a moment before answering. He moves his hand to ruffle Kokichi’s hair, and Kokichi can’t bring himself to tell him to stop, even if it is weird. “I’ll take that as a no. I was wondering why you had your phone with you while you slept.”

Truthfully, it was so that he could get constant updates in the case that something went wrong.

“Oh, you haven’t heard? I gave aliens my phone number!” Kokichi grins up at Kaito’s unamused face, throwing his hands behind his head.

Kaito drops his hand from Kokichi’s hair, and Kokichi tells himself that he’s not disappointed, somewhere in the emotions that are bottled up tightly inside his chest.

“Listen,” Kaito tells him, “I know something’s wrong. I told you before, just because I can’t relate doesn’t mean I can’t listen to you! We’re classmates and friends!”

Kokichi pauses. “Friends? You think that you’re my friend? We were just fighting a few minutes ago. You even hurt my wrist. Plus, you’re practically keeping me hostage in your dorm room! Do friends do that?”

Kaito looks guilty at that, not meeting Kokichi’s eyes. “I honestly didn’t mean to hold onto you that tightly. Sorry,” he gets quieter as he speaks the last word before getting himself pumped up again, pressing his fists together with a grin. “But yes! I think we’re friends! I told you before that you can talk to me whenever, and I meant it, because that’s what friends do! I’m gonna get you to talk to me honestly someday, just you wait!”

“Honestly, huh?” Kokichi doesn’t know how, exactly, he feels about that, but the implication that Kaito wants to keep trying to become closer to a liar like him feels oddly warm. He covers it up with harsh, mocking words. “Well, you can try, but that means you’ll have to talk honestly to me, too. Do you think you can handle that? What happens if I accidentally break your _oh so precious_ hero persona?”

Kaito huffs. “I can handle anything! And besides, it’s not a persona! I really am trying to be a hero to everyone!”

“We’re all liars, even you,” Kokichi says, smirking easily at Kaito. “You can keep saying that, but if you want me to tell you what you want, you’re going to have to try harder than that.”

“Whatever,” Kaito runs a hand through his bedhead. “For the record, though, you’re still annoying as hell.”

“Awwww,” Kokichi coos, “that’s so sweet, Kaito! I think you’re annoying as hell too!”

Kaito looks frustrated, and he doesn’t meet Kokichi’s eyes as he looks away. “Will you just please tell me something, _anything,_ about what’s going on? Everyone was worried, you know.”

“Oh, now that’s obviously a lie! You think I’d be so stupid as to think that the killer girl would ever worry about me?”

“You know what I meant, so just answer the question, asshole,” Kaito says.

Kokichi hums for a second before taking out and unlocking his phone. Peering at his screen, he sees that he still has a bit less than half an hour left until noon. He can’t get out of this so easily. The thought sits heavy on his shoulders.

“Well maybe you shouldn’t be missing class if they’re so worried,” Kokichi pockets his phone again, then throws his hands behind his head with a cheerful grin. “I’m sure everyone wants to know that I’m actually alive, after all, after a few days of taking care of those pesky countries that I control. They get out of hand so easily, you know!”

Kaito frowns. “I’m not leaving you, you’ll probably try to run off again.”

“Sure,” Kokichi smiles, with no intention of leaving. “Well, maybe you should text them. You do have a phone, don’t you?”

There’s a pause between them.

“I left it in Shuichi’s room,” Kaito says sheepishly, though annoyance tinges his tone. He rubs the back of his head.

Kokichi stares at Kaito incredulously. “You’re kidding me,” he says, putting his hands in his pockets and leaning forward to stare into Kaito’s eyes. He almost wishes that he could be tall enough to actually get close to Kaito. “You’re that irresponsible, huh?”

Kaito reaches a hand up to grasp at his own face, effectively covering his eyes. “I’m not irresponsible! It’s not like I _chose_ to leave it there! You- you would’ve done the same thing!”

“No, idiot, I wouldn’t have,” Kokichi brings his hands out of his pockets along with his phone, waving it around. “Because I actually pay attention to things around me! This device allows me to control the entire world with just a few buttons pressed! You think I would leave something as _precious as that_ with some stupid detective?”

“Shut up!” Kaito’s eyebrows are drawn together into a glare, staring down at Kokichi. “Don’t talk about Shuichi that way. Listen, if you want me to talk to Shuichi so much, I’ll text him on _your_ phone-!”

Kaito reaches for Kokichi’s phone, but Kokichi dances away quickly, holding it out of reach.

“_Ohhh_ no,” Kokichi says, swallowing as he realizes that he doesn’t have anywhere to run. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you! Dear, sweet Kaito might get hurt!”

Kaito’s cheeks turn pink as he reaches again for the phone. “You keep saying that I’m gonna get hurt but I don’t believe you!” he yells, seemingly to distract from whatever embarrassment he’s feeling. “Shit, why do you keep _saying_ that? Just give me the damn phone already!”

“Never,” Kokichi forces a smile onto his face as he slips past Kaito, towards the door. “You’ll never get your hands on it.”

Kaito throws himself between Kokichi and the door at that moment, blocking off Kokichi’s escape route. Kokichi’s eye twitches. The two of them stare at each other in silence, and Kokichi refuses to be the one to look away first. It occurs to him, in the back of his brain, that it feels _nice_ to be challenged like this. He doesn’t dwell on it.

“Listen, if you won’t talk willingly, I’ll have to pry what’s wrong out of you,” Kaito meets Kokichi’s eyes with a determined gaze.

“Where did this come from? Just a second ago you were sooo into getting this phone,” Kokichi smirks, despite feeling unsure about where the new train of thought came from.

“It just-” Kaito pauses for a second with his teeth clenched. “Shut up! The phone didn’t even matter in the first place! I just…” Kaito quiets down. “I tried thinking about it, okay? This whole time you’ve been going on about how important you are and how I could get hurt if I interfere. It’s like you’re obsessing over it.”

Kokichi feels his control slip away, the numbness and vulnerability return. Kaito is so, so close to saying what Kokichi dreads to hear.

“…Did someone get hurt?”

Kokichi feels how his mask has slipped away. He’s standing there, not knowing how to react because sure, Kaito may be an idiot, but he sometimes gets things horribly _right._ Kokichi feels like he’s been suddenly shoved in the spotlight, like he’s sick from being found out.

He forces himself to look down, away, keep going, force a smile. He feels his hands shaking.

“Bzzzt! Wrong!” Kokichi feels Kaito’s gaze weighing on his shoulders. He raises his head to meet it, even when he knows that it’s only going to make things worse. “Sorry, but like I said, if you really want things to work out how you want, you’re going to have to get _dirty._ Stop playing the hero and start researching my organization! Chop chop, Kaito!”

Kaito’s hands land firmly on Kokichi’s shoulders. Kokichi blinks, then blinks again to keep away the blurriness filling his eyes.

When his vision clears, he sees Kaito looking concerned, eyes wide and darting over his face. His grip tightens before Kaito forces himself to loosen his grip, eyes glancing at Kokichi’s wrist momentarily.

“Stop. Stop,” Kaito lifts a hand off Kokichi’s shoulder to put it on Kokichi’s cheek. Kokichi jerks away; he feels so _weak._ And yet, despite all that, he finds himself not wanting to be alone. Just as quickly as he moved away, he steadies himself again. “You’re lying,” Kaito tells him, and Kokichi thinks that he doesn’t know how he got so _powerless._

“How do you know that?” Kokichi says, just to be defiant, and Kaito takes his hand away from the air near his cheek. Kokichi forced his eyes to stop watering, but the traces of the very first tears are still there, one wiped slightly to the side by Kaito’s careful fingers.

“You were crying again, first of all. And you looked so… I don’t know, shocked? Full of dread, I mean, when I said that. You thought I wouldn’t figure it out ‘cause you think you can read me so well, right?”

Kokichi laughs, and allows himself to tinge his tone with bitterness. “Right! But you’re definitely not so boring today.”

“Ugh, that feels like an insult,” Kaito is holding his hand that isn’t on Kokichi’s shoulder in a fist, and Kokichi stares at him blankly. “But I was saying that you look tired, right now! And you keep checking your phone! I know that Shuichi would’ve gotten it so much faster and…” Kaito looks down and then back to Kokichi, eyebrows furrowed. “I’m sorry for making everything worse.”

Kokichi stares at Kaito for a second, before smiling a weak smile. “Idiot. Why do you think I chose you in the first place?” Except, it’s a lie to imply that he had chosen Kaito because he wouldn’t figure him out; he thinks of how Kaito somehow made him feel safe, and how he keeps feeling things that he shouldn’t. He doesn’t voice those thoughts.

Kaito puts his hand on Kokichi’s head and grins. “Ha! You should’ve known I’d try hard to talk to you! That’s why I let you come to my room whenever!”

“Stop rubbing it in, space idiot,” Kokichi huffs dramatically, collecting his self control again in the wake of his very short breakdown. The stress and sleep deprivation must be getting to him even after all the rest he had last night. Yet, it’s simple enough to pretend otherwise, and so he does.

“I told you to stop calling me an idiot a long time ago.” Kaito sounds oddly fond in a way that feels almost abnormal to Kokichi. He keeps his hand on Kokichi’s head, and takes the other off Kokichi’s shoulder to rub the back of his own neck. His purple eyes are lit by the sun coming through the window, and Kokichi stares for only a moment before smirking at Kaito’s dumb, pretty face.

“Hm? What was that? I couldn’t hear you over the sound of an idiot,” Kokichi snickers. His cheeks feel too warm.

“Sure,” Kaito replies. He pauses for a moment, looking away and tasting his next words on his tongue. “Actually, since I know what happened, so… where have you been the past few days?”

Kokichi furrows his eyebrows and sticks out his bottom lip in an annoyed pout. “Aw man, guess there’s no use lying. I’ve been at the hospital. And, speaking of,” Kokichi tilts his head and Kaito removes his hand from his hair, dropping it unceremoniously to his side. “I should get back there sometime soon. Say, in about…” He digs through his pocket again for his phone, turning it on and raising his eyebrows at the time. “Ten minutes?”

“Whoa, the _hospital_? So someone really _did_ get hurt?!”

Kokichi gives a dramatic gasp. “I thought you figured it out! But I also wasn’t lying about doing my supreme leader’s duties while I was gone, too, you know: the world only runs because of me!” Kokichi grins up at Kaito and places a finger on his lips as a way to accentuate the lie. His other hand puts his phone back into his pocket.

“That’s definitely a lie,” Kaito grumbles.

“K-Kaito doesn’t believe me?” Kokichi makes his eyes water, morphing his face into a frown. “I c-can’t believe you’d do that to meeeee! After we _bonded_ and everything! You’re so _mean_!”

“Hey, c’mon, you little shit! I believe you, I just don’t believe that one person could run the entire world!” Kaito clenches his fists, but Kokichi can see him struggling not to smile.

“Wow, impressive! Keep trying, space boy! One day I’ll have to get my _evil organization_ to kidnap you, and then what will you believe? That’s a lie, though. We’d never kidnap someone who we have no use for!” Kokichi grins and throws his hands up to put behind his head, but he doesn’t get very far.

He immediately puts his hand back in his pocket as his phone buzzes. His cheerful smile drops instantly, another mask discarded because DICE is on the line.

Kaito makes a noise that Kokichi doesn’t bother to interpret, too busy tapping at his screen to read the new messages that he just received.

11:47 AM: _he’s okay_

11:47 AM: _the hospital will keep him for a couple more days but we can visit now_

11:48 AM: _have you rested?_

Kokichi let’s out a sigh of relief, and his fingers fly across the screen as he types out his reply. He doesn’t pay attention to Kaito but hears him move.

11:48 AM: _nee-heehee!! of course i have!_

11:49 AM: _im coming over asap to make sure youre not lying to me_

“Oh,” Kaito says, from behind Kokichi. “I knew you weren’t lying, but they forced you back here, huh.”

Kokichi turns around, only to realize that Kaito had been reading over his shoulder while he typed.

“Yep! I used you for a distraction from all the _awful things_ that happen to my organization. How does it feel to be singled out because you’re just _soooo_ easy to rile up?” Kokichi laughs. The news that everyone in DICE is finally okay makes him feel almost giddy from relief. It’s still shaky, but it’s at least _better._

Another message pops up on his phone.

11:49 AM: _we’d never lie to you boss!_

11:50 AM: _we’ll be waiting for you_

Kokichi grins.

“Geez, you could stand to be a little nicer, you know. I was just trying to help you!” Kaito frowns down at him.

“No thanks!” Kokichi says airily, a smile still on his face.

Kaito's expression shifts into a smile, and Kokichi feels warm for a minute before Kaito speaks again.

“Well,” Kaito says, reaching up to rub the back of his neck, “guess you gotta go see if… see if they’re okay, I guess. And I have to get ready to go to class. I gotta reassure everyone, y’know. They’re counting on me!”

Kokichi frowns and narrows his eyes. “_Riiiight._ But I’m just going to warn you now: if you so much as breathe a word of what’s actually going on,” Kokichi smirks, wiping away the frown instantly and letting his face grow sinister. His smile stretches across his face, and when Kokichi meets Kaito’s eyes, he watches them widen ever so slightly. “I can’t guarantee your safety. Hear that, Kaito? And that’s the real, honest truth.”

“Of course I won’t say anything! A-and besides, could you stop doing that with your face?”

Kokichi does another practiced evil face. “What, this?”

Kaito grimaces.

Kokichi drops it, replacing it with a childish grin. “Anyways, saying something about me without my say so wouldn’t be very heroic, anyways! So I trust that if you do say anything, you’re taking responsibility for what happens!”

“As if I’d do something like that, asshole!” Kaito says, scoffing at Kokichi and scratching at his neck.

“Aw, and I was looking forwards to torturing you, too!” Kokichi turns towards the door, pocketing his phone and waving his other hand easily. He’s almost certain that with those taunts, Kaito won’t say anything about the hospital. “See you later, loser!”

Kaito follows him as he opens the door, but doesn’t step out.

“…Listen.” Kokichi pauses and turns back to Kaito, who’s grinning widely at him with determination in his gaze. “You can come back any time if you have anything to talk about,” Kaito tells him loudly.

Kokichi laughs, and, somehow, it doesn’t end up being fake. “Keep dreaming, space idiot!”

Kokichi hears Kaito’s door close behind him as he turns around. While he would attribute most of his good mood to the fact that DICE is okay, there’s also the fact that Kaito had, in that idiotic way of his, made him feel better and safer, between all the banter and fighting.

_His door is always open… huh._


End file.
